GoodBye to a Friend Wearing White to a Funeral
by Witch4
Summary: Lily goes to the funeral of an old friend and her new friends try to find a way to comfort her.


Good–Bye to a Friend (Wearing White to a Funeral)

Summary: Lily goes to the funeral of an old friend, and her new friends look for a way to comfort her.

_This story is dedicated to the memory of Daisuke who recently passed away. We will never forget you._

"Why are you wearing a white dress?" Fran asked Lily as the Cheetah Master walked out of the loft bathroom. Fran and Dom had been back from their trip around the world for a month and the two girls had quickly gone back to their regular routine of going out for lunch every Thursday (Tuesdays were still reserved for Theo) after JKP's lunch rush ended. However, today was different; Lily had had to unexpectedly cancel.

"I'm going to a funeral," the former Yellow Ranger quietly explained as she picked up the black wrist bands that were lying on the kitchen table and put them on.

"I'm so sorry. What is someone close to you?"

Lily leaned against the table for a moment, as if she didn't know how to answer.

"No. Not really." She sat down before continuing. "We went to high school together, before I went to Pai Zhuq. He was always so nice to everyone. We all felt the need to say good–bye."

"Can I ask why you're wearing white? It seems a little too happy for a funeral."

Lily took a breath, drank some of the water Fran had handed her, and tried to steady her voice before replying. "During one of our classes, we had a discussion about death and how cultures deal with it, their customs. In Asian cultures, white is typically what is worn at funerals. It's the absence of color. We all made a vow afterwards that when we should go, no one would be wearing black. If we had to wear dark colors, they had to be colorful; otherwise we would just wear white. And any color would be much more welcome than black."

"That's very true."

The two women, for that is what they had each decided they now were following such a serious discussion, looked at each other in silent contemplation before the tears that Lily had been trying to hold back for the last week finally fell. Fran walked around the counter to her friend and enveloped her in a comforting hug before Lily pulled away and went back into the bathroom to wash her face of the tears she had just shed. Ten minutes, and many tissues later, RJ came upstairs to inform Lily that she had a visitor waiting to pick her up.

"That's Mike. He's driving me there," Lily said as she sniffed, wiped her eyes and nose once more before hugging Fran and turning to go down the stairs to meet her friend for the most painful journey of her young life.

A few minutes later, Dom, Theo, Flit, and Casey, Jarrod, & Camille (who had all come over for lunch) entered the loft area of Jungle Karma Pizza with confusion on their faces.

"Who was that guy and why were he and Lily wearing white?" Casey asked as he sat at the kitchen counter. Fran relayed the story, since Lily had given her permission to do so, and snuggled into the hug that Dom gave her.

"So that's why she's been looking so sad this last week," Dom said as he reluctantly let go of his girlfriend and settled into the stool next to her.

Fran nodded sadly. "Is there anything we can do for her RJ?" she asked her boss and friend.

"Well, a funeral is a time to accept what has happened and give your love and support to those left behind. I'd say that the best thing we can do is be supportive and give her whatever help and comfort she needs."

"I'm wondering why she didn't tell any of us," Camille said. In the year–and–a–half since Fran and Dom had left for their trip around the world, she and the usually cheerful girl had become great friends.

"She didn't want us to worry. Her friends are very important to her, no matter what time of her life she met them and she wanted to protect everyone," Theo answered.

"Well, I think we should show her how important she is to us and that she can come to us with any problem," Casey told them. They all agreed and decided to plan a special day to show their favorite Cheetah.

* * *

Normally, a person might feel angry at Mother Nature for providing such a gloriously bright and sunny day for a funeral, but everyone gathered agreed that the day perfectly suited Haru's personality. The large group of twenty–year–olds in varying shades of white and green (Haru's favorite color) with black bands around both wrists stood out from the older mourners as they said their final good–byes to their friend.

Mike came over once she had said good–bye to their friend and gave a comforting hug before leading her to the group of 26 who had also gathered. They came together in a group hug before departing for their respective vehicles and heading to the wake that Haru's family had arranged; a somber gathering, rather than a party, where they would all share their tales of Haru–chan.

* * *

Three hours later, Mike dropped Lily off at JKP, with one final hug, before she sent him off. As she trudged into the pizzeria, she noticed that it was eerily quiet, unusual for a Thursday night. When she got up to the loft, she was surprised to see her friends, her family, patiently waiting for her. The loft was set up like once of their old slumber party nights, as she and Fran had called them, when they were all still fighting Dai Shi's forces and they would all just crash on futons and sleeping bags and pillows in the loft's lounging area and just sleep, taking comfort in the fact that the most important people in their lives were within an arm's length or sideways role of them.

"What's going on?" she asked as she tiredly hung up her coat and messenger bag before collapsing onto the yellow futon that was reserved for her.

"We're here for you. It's just like the old days, just without Dai Shi trying to destroy us and take over the world," Casey said as he handed her a steaming cup of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows.

"Whatever you need, we'll be there with it," Theo said as her kissed her cheek.

Lily gave her friends a tired, watery smile. "Thanks you guys. All I really want to do, though, is sleep," she said as she snuggled into the warm futon.

"Then we sleep we shall," RJ told his former student. "And don't worry about tomorrow; I think we could all use a break to think about life, and the universe, the number 42…"

"And we're going to take tomorrow off from the Academy," Casey added. "Everyone needs a day off every now and then."

"Guys, are you sure?" Lily looked to the faces of her eight closest friends.

"We want to be there for you, Lily. Just like you've been there for us," Flit told her. "Just let us help."

Lily took a calming breath before looking back at her family. "Okay."

The next day, Jungle Karma Pizza's loyal customers were surprised to find a note taped to the door that read "Closed for Family Healing."


End file.
